Turkey | GlobeRiders Silk Road Adventure

What we are trying to do is stick to the original Silk Route that went from Europe to Xi'an. We are going to go through eight different countries. Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, into Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and dive into the Gobi Desert. Oh, it's going to be so cool and couldn't find a better place to end the trip than in Xi'an, such a cultural center. I don't know of anybody doing the entire Silk Road in 53 days on motorcycles except road riders. You know, it started with a dream and slowly, slowly it started to take shape. This is not a tour that just happened overnight. It's a lot of planning because, you know, it's so many things to consider. How far can you ride with a bike? Politically, is it okay? How are the road conditions? Can we get gasoline? Are there hotels to host the group? Are there safe parking at the hotels? But it's all these uncertainties in a globe riders tour that makes it unique. There are many tours that do things, you know, in a civilized way. Globe Riders is one of the ones that goes for long distances, long time stretches. The truth of it is, this is a luxury adventure tour. You know, we're staying in the finest hotels. Everything's arranged for us. We just have to shove and ride our motorcycles. What makes it different is sometimes that riding the motorcycles is exceptional. Life does not suck. Got a motorcycle, got some all right people to ride with. Life is good. And now, we ride. It's the pure riding experience. You know, you're going to have beautiful terrain to go through. You're going to have challenges on the road, bumpy road traffic, desert, perhaps a sandstone thrown in there. Who knows? But always the essence of these tours is really the cultures and the people. We don't just ride on from place to place to place, take a couple of snapshots and say, been there, done that. No, we really stop a lot of places and go out and are real tourists. And we get to see some places where many people never go. One of the advantages of a motorcycle is as you go through a country, you feel more part of the fabric of that country. Traveling on motorcycles is a better way to experience the places that you travel through. When I decided to do this trip, a lot of my friends and family were like at first just like, hey, why are you doing something like that? But then telling them where I was going, what countries you're going through and the part of the world you're going through, a lot of them really didn't understand it in respect to the timeliness of what's going on in Iraq, what's going on in Afghanistan, what's going on in Iran and just the Al Qaeda Muslim world in general. Why do you worry that much about political safety until about a month before I left and I visited my brother and he said, you know, there was a coup in Kyrgyzstan over the weekend and I thought he was joking. And I've heard, been a little nervous about the reports and stuff because you don't want to take a group into a political situation but it's very calm now, it's okay and for some reason if there should be a problem, we can navigate around all of this. This is an adventure and so you take some risk to do it in the first place. You boil life down to it. At dawn's first light, the wavering call to prayer is a spiritual reminder of how far we've come from home and family. For the first part of this journey, that sound will be a constant companion. We begin here at the port of Istanbul with a shipping container that was sent more than two months ago from the United States. I've been so much work just preparing for this tour and so much anticipation, not a lot but some fear about things not working out like the container not arriving, the bikes being damaged in the container. So the first thing relief was sitting on the airplane, second relief was when the container was opened and see everything was perfect. The cargo, 18 BMW motorcycles. With a few preparations, the bikes will be ready to take on the challenge of the silk road. We don't provide bikes, we don't rent bikes, people ask us all the time about that. No, you have to have your own bike and it's really important because it takes a lot to set up the bike, to get it the way you want it with the panniers, with your luggage system and so on and so forth. And I also am a firm believer in that if you have a rental, you know, it's just a rental, you don't take as good care of it. If it's your own bike, you have a lot of pride and keeping it up and you really need to do that on such a hard trip. We don't impose on anybody to take a specific bike, except we do have guidelines, bring a GS style bike. And if you don't know what that is, basically it has to have wide handlebars to be able to handle it through adverse terrain. It has to have spoked rims, you also have to have a bike with a decent fuel capacity, so you can go long distances. So a street bike, we just purely don't take on this bit. Well, that didn't sound too strong. You got your gas on? I think this is probably the best fleet of bikes we ever had. First of all, the people that are here, they could take whatever bike they wanted, but they all chose to take BMWs, which is pretty unique. The oldest bike is from 1981, the newest is from 2005. There are four of the latest 1200 GSs. I'm very excited to see how it's all going to work out. I know the old bikes are going to make it, they are the proven ones. A little skeptical to the new one, but I'm crossing my finger and looking forward to see that it all works out. Got the bikes out of the container and we're waiting for a few more things to happen, such as an inspector, a customs inspector will come, will check the chassis numbers, license plates, and then they'll probably have us sign a couple more papers and let us go. This is how customs is. It's quite an extraordinary process because these guys here are used to container loads of stuff like raw materials or finished products, but they don't have secondhand motorcycles coming out of containers, especially coming here for touring purposes. So we're opening a lot of new gates for these guys and making some things happen for the first time. My name is Laura Seaver, I'm 37 years old, I live in Seattle and I'm riding what I affectionately call the beast, 1994 BMW R100 GS PD. Well I'm Hans Mullis, I'm 58 years old and I live now in New York City, best town in the world. My name is Jay Yannick and I'm 67 years old and I'm riding a BMW R1150 GS Adventure. Couldn't have asked for a better group, everybody seems to be getting along and pretty much equal riders. A lot of my friends asked me or people that I would tell that I was going on this trip, they're like, oh so are you going with friends of yours? Do you like, so is there a group of your friends or whatever? I said no, I don't know a single one of them. Most people that come on this tour, they have either they've been riding with us before, been referred from friends or seen us on the internet. I've been working with this group for a long time, we have a forum on the internet where we communicate to each other and prepare psychologically and practically how to get everything together. Some of the people on this trip are new friends, some of them are people that are my favorite people in the world. Some of the guys on our trip are a bit older if I may say, it's like wow these old guys, but these are hardcore guys, I mean these aren't just like you know, you know they've lived a life you know. They're pretty incredible people, I mean these are hardcore, I mean this isn't your average average people. To go on a tour like this you have to be a very special person. It's not another weekend trip to the Alps, all respect to the people that tours there, but this is really a big commitment for anybody that go into signing up for Globetrotters tours. It's a lot of commitment in time and money, but also in your head you have to be tuned into this kind of travel because it's not going to be easy. And in reality when people see the scope of the tour and the deep commitment it is, it's not, it's a lot of money, it's a lot of time and you really have to be dedicated. So just mentally I think most of these people are already ready to go on the tour. The thing I was most concerned about having ridden in Istanbul before was the Istanbul traffic and this time it worked out fine. Helge was able to arrange it where when we picked up the bikes we took a ferry almost where our hotel was. We didn't miss most of the Istanbul traffic. On the other side of the water, Asia. On this side, Europe. Since the beginning of time it has been one of the busiest and most important waterways in the world. The Bosphorus Straits, a channel 20 miles long that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean. The water buzzes with commerce traveling through the straits. Ships and oil tankers, local fishing and passenger boats, a great introduction to Istanbul. Istanbul is the last stop in Europe and the first stop in Asia. Turkey itself, not just Istanbul, but Turkey itself is a bridge between the east and the west and by the way Istanbul is a unique city in a sense that it is the only city in the world that is located on two continents Asia and Europe. Istanbul was the western terminus of the old silk road and the end of the journey for many. Today it's a thriving metropolitan jewel where the east meets the west and the starting point for our journey. A short ferry ride from the port brings us to our base camp for a day of explorations. We're staying here at the Blue House Hotel in the heart of the old city. The Eastern Roman Empire chose this city as the capital city. Constantine the Great in 330 AD came here and he loved the location. He said I'm moving my empire's capital here. So he named it after himself, called it Constantinopolis and that's how the city started here. Eastern Roman Empire, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The 6th century was an age of glory for the Eastern Roman Empire. It was during this time period that the Basilica Cistern was built to store water for the great palace. Inside the underground cavern a forest of marble columns. The Egyptian obelisk was brought here in AD 390 just before the division of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. The base is carved with pictures of the Roman emperor and his family while hieroglyphics on the column describe the victories of the pharaoh and a sacrifice to the god of the sun Amun-Ra. It was originally a third taller but was broken by the time it arrived in Istanbul. At more than 3,500 years of age it's definitely the oldest monument in the city. Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is as vibrant and exciting as it ever was. With 18 gates and 60 streets inside it's one of the largest covered markets in the world and a maze of colorful trinkets and oddities, souvenirs, carpets, clothing, textiles and antiques. If you want to buy carpets first you must know if it's handmade or not. When you do carpet like this you see there is no knot. One of the pile when you take come out is easy and that means this is not a handmade. Persian, Indian, Chinese they are using single knot like this you know. This is, this is Turkish, this is Persian knot which is you see not different knot system. This is Turkish, Kurdish, no Kurdish, Turkish double knotted. Much tighter, much durable you know stronger you know and that way is different you know between our carpets and other countries and that place handmade it's it's good you know because you can use forever handmade carpets. Different colored spices are the original commodity in the Egyptian or spice market. Istanbul's second largest covered bazaar is filled with the fragrances of the exotic east. Outside of the spice market the new mosque. Only in Istanbul could a building this old be called new. The busy square overlooks the golden horn an important waterway that separates the old and new parts of European Istanbul. The tower in the distance has dominated the skyline since 1348. Standing on the steps of the new mosque one gets a sense of Istanbul as a city at the crossroads of time, geography and culture. Its identity forever mixed between the ancient and the modern, the east and the west, religious and secular. Istanbul is still the commercial historic and cultural center of Turkey and its contradictions are most felt here in its heart. Istikl Kedisi is a long pedestrian street in the Taksim shopping district, a place for locals and tourists alike. The old tram cars shuttle up and down the hills past luxury boutiques, fashion houses, cafes, restaurants and theaters. The street ends in Taksim Square, a huge open plaza and hub of modern Istanbul. In the evening Istanbul is a playground of entertainment options. Everything from a casual walk through one of her many neighborhoods to performance, music, art and theater. Right across the street from the Blue House, nightlife in the form of an outdoor bazaar and cafe. The only thing that rivals the popularity of the hookah is the backgammon board. Just a few blocks away in a different neighborhood, the city has a long history of harboring European gypsies and an annual festival of gypsy music takes place here each spring. As the evening progresses, the bonfires begin. One by one the superstitious spectators jump through the sparks looking to add a little luck or love to their lives. It's a celebration that goes on well into the evening. In the middle of the night, well after all the fires have died or been put out, only smoldering remains and an Efi's beer can are left to tell the story. But it continues with more fires and more fire jumpers in every back alley deep into the Istanbul night. The next morning at 7 a.m. it's time to ride. After sending the last email to family and friends back home, we leave the Blue House and begin the big ride to Xi'an. We have 8,000 miles to ride and 50 days to do it in. Along the way anything can happen and probably will. And in many ways Istanbul is still my favorite city. It was before I came. I've been to Istanbul several times and I still love Istanbul. It's just got such great sights. While it's a secular society it has a Muslim influence and architecture mixed with some European. This makes it truly special. Once we got off the ferry from Istanbul heading on into Turkey, the roads were beautiful and the traffic was minimal and good curves, everything you could ask for. In short order, the road brings us to Iznik or ancient Nicaea, the birthplace of the Nicaean creed, an important stop on the Silk Road. During the Ottoman times in the 16th and 17th centuries, Iznik was famous for its tiles, now still decorating mosques and palaces in Istanbul. This tile workshop rediscovered the process of production and has started to reproduce tiles using the traditional techniques. Iznik has been famous for its tiles in the 16th and 17th centuries and all these imperial mosques and palaces that were built for the sultans in Istanbul and other cities were all decorated by these beautiful tiles that were exquisitely and exclusively produced for the sultan and his relatives and friends. About 10 years ago, these people here, they're all professors and they know the science of tile making. They decided to establish a foundation to reproduce these tiles based on the original techniques. So they've done lots of readings, they've excavated in kilns, they've analyzed the chemical structure of these dyes and all the minerals that they've used back in the Ottoman times and they've come really close to the real thing. One of the ways to distinguish a real Iznik tile is the white. Actually, they call it the white of the eye. It's sort of about the same tone in terms of its whiteness. So if you've got an eye and if you've been looking at it and appreciating the beauty of Iznik, you can actually tell them apart, especially from the colors, obviously. After leaving the historic village of Iznik, we're on the road to Bursa, the first capital of the Ottoman Empire and still the most important silk producing center in Turkey. After parking the bikes, a chance to visit a major stop on the Silk Road, a 15th century bazaar where silk is still the main commodity. How many different kinds of silk do you have? We have three kinds. This is crepe silk, the more shining one is satin silk. I don't know if you can see it. And the last one. This is called wal, but I don't know in English. This is thin. It's not that heavy like the others. As it gets heavier, it's more expensive. Klimt, pictures. We did three pictures of his. This is the kiss. Then this is the girl's. And that's the garden. In the courtyard of the silk bazaar, a small mosque built in 1493, along with a tea garden and a lively pastry vendor. In the morning, preparations for the day's ride. Up into the bathroom, contacts, teeth brush, get dressed, pack the bag, get everything together, one last check, down to the bikes, uncover it, put the cover away, put everything on the bike, go in, breakfast, back out, fuss around and wait to go. This whole area is really nice and scenic. Maps are a big part of any Globe Rider's adventure, and everyone has a map book with the day-to-day information needed to get us to our next location. We're also navigating by satellites, and everyone has a GPS on their bike. Well, the beauty of this kind of trip is that you send them off in the morning and you meet that night at the hotel. So basically in the morning we do a little briefing, you set up your GPS, and then we just take off. And the reason we can do that and feel good about it is that we have coordinates, we have waypoints along the way, so we actually have a route, we teach people to use their GPS if they can't use it, and if you feel uncertain, you will tag on to a guide or even with a chase vehicle. I think people that ride motorcycles automatically know when they get on a motorcycle, they have to be more alert than when they get in their car or pickup truck. You can't ride down the road on your bike and drink a cup of coffee and listen to the stereo, and etc. You won't fall asleep riding on a motorcycle, if you do, it'll only be once. People buddy up with different friends, you know, some have different riding styles, you find out who is good for you, and usually we encourage people not to ride more than two or three together. Others say, no, I'm going to use this day, this is so beautiful, I'm going to stop every five minutes, take pictures, meet the locals, it's entirely up to yourself. This is central Anatolia, the Turkish heartland. Our route avoids the sprawling suburbs of Ankara by traveling the back roads through small Turkish towns and villages. A gritty industrial steel mill outside of Safranbolu does little to announce our arrival at this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Safranbolu is best known for its collection of old Ottoman houses. An unusually large number of these wood and stucco homes survive today. A friendly policeman guides us through a maze of alleyways to the place we'll be staying tonight. An important rest stop for many centuries, an old caravan saray, an ancient camel motel that provided shelter, food, and care to caravans on the Silk Road, a forerunner of today's truck stops. This caravan saray was built in 1645 and was recently restored and turned into a hotel. During the Silk Road, all the civilizations that controlled Turkey supported and built a lot of different structures to enhance the trade on the Silk Road and among them are actually the caravan sarays. These caravan sarays were totally free of charge and all these caravans could stay up to three nights free of charge. The camels were taken care of, they were put into the stables, they were fed, and of course the people were also given food and there are about 250 of these caravan sarays in Turkey. Most of them are in ruins but some have been restored and some have been nicely turned into hotels. Outside the caravan saray, a labyrinth of cobbled streets. Although Safranbolu is popular with Turkish tourists, it's relatively unknown to foreign visitors. The pace of life in this small town is worlds away from cities like Ankara or Istanbul. On day six of the Silk Road adventure, we get an early start and head south across the plains of central Anatolia, once again bypassing the congestion of Ankara to the west. And here we have the market day. Today is Sunday. Today is the weekly market day. What happens here is people from the surrounding villages bring their goods to sell and also merchants from the town, the bigger towns, bring their goods like hardware. You're barbed wire, some pipes like this guy is carrying here now. So this is how the villages here meet their needs. So the merchants bring them every Sunday. It's been a great ride. I think for me, having been in Turkey before, knowing that it's a beautiful place to ride, is seeing the other people. Most of the people we are traveling with have not been here before, and just seeing them being so happy and content and coming telling stories to you every day. Oh, I love that part of it, the travel. For millions of years, three large volcanoes on the central Anatolian plateau erupted and spewed hot volcanic ash over the region. After centuries of erosion by wind and rain, a strange landscape of fairy chimneys and pinnacles was born. But it wasn't just nature that carved the rocks. Early inhabitants dug out homes, churches, and entire cities in the soft rock. This is Cappadocia, a region in the heart of Turkey. The striking landscape is beautiful scenery for a motorcycle adventure. And on the third day of riding, we arrive at this crossroads of the ancient Silk Road. Our destination is Urgup, a small city in a steep valley. Our accommodations, a cave hotel. In the morning, more historic caves. This is the Kaymaklı underground city that was carved out of the soft volcanic rock, mainly to provide shelter during times of attack and siege. This is where a GPS would really be useful, but Garmin, I guess, doesn't do any good here. They probably had a secret passage or entrance because this is the stables. Obviously, they would not be able to bring down those animals all the way down through these narrow passages. So this is where they kept the animals right at the entrance. And it was used many times in history and now it's open to visitors. So we're going to walk down, nine stories down, and crouch down a little bit, go through tunnels. So if you have stiff knees, let me know. It started in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. That's a nice big room there. To see Cappadocia's famous painted cave churches, the Goreme Open Air Museum has the best collection of elaborate Byzantine frescoes. It's quite interesting because this church looks like it's a real proper church. But remember, all these churches are carved out of a rock and therefore these four columns have no structural function. Take these columns away and it's not going to collapse because it's carved. So the people who carved these churches way back in the 9th and 10th centuries wanted to make it look like a proper church. Perhaps they were inspiring to those grand churches like Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. So let's talk about the frescoes a little bit. Up in the dome, we have Christ Pantocrator, which means creator of all. He's doing the sign of benediction and holding the book of gospels. We have the four evangelists in the corners. You can even see their names, Matthew, John, Mark. Mark here and Luke here. And I'm sure you recognize other scenes, crucifixion right there. Again, remember the depiction of faces in Islam religion is not allowed. So that's one of the reasons why these early Muslims defaced most religious figures. We cannot control the direction. That's the importance of getting a good spot for the law. We can go up and down and we can control our height within actually a few centimeters. And some of the time we'll be going up to capture, for example, turning right when you climb up, turning a bit more left when you go down. And that's how we For a really good contour ballooning, you've got to have the right criteria. And basically, you need the perfect climate where the air masses are so stable that you can control your height to within a few inches. And then you need the right kind of topography so that you can skim the different undulating landscape contours using the heat of the balloon to raise yourself as you reach an obstacle and let it cool off and drop down on the other side when you when you reach your cooling off period. And this obviously is the most ideal environment for that. We've got the right stable air masses and we've got a fabulous topography to play with. The area was basically laid layer upon layer of volcanic ash back sort of five million years ago or so. And then with the ensuing erosion, with the frost and the rain and a little bit of wind and basically the sort of general crumbling of the soft volcanic ash, it's created these very strange pinnacles. And you've got these some textures are stronger than others. So it was hard enough for people to come in and dig out caves. And then they became more sophisticated and dug out churches and then came and painted them. And it's it's an absolute playground for a balloon. The landscape is amazing. This eroded volcanic ash, I guess. And so there's all kinds of just the the natural formations and then also what people over over thousands of years have dug out. They they fed and pigeons to harvest the guano to fertilize their fields. So there's little little alcoves in there and and honey bee hives and churches and all kinds of things carved into the into the rock. It's great to share this experience with so many people. I mean, we're flying reasonably big balloons, average capacity about 10 passengers in each balloon. And to share that experience for most people, it's the first time they go up in a And then you've also got Cappadocia to share. And it's a stunning landscape. It's a spectacular environment. It's the beauty of the flying here is really a sharing it with the passengers. We have to make a toast to the crew for rescuing us. Beautiful flaring. In the beginning, I think the biggest challenge was to read and get the dynamics of the group, just seeing how people were going to interact, learn about people's daily struggle with their There are some people that are weaker than other people. I feel like a mother many times, you know, I'm looking after my kids and trying to take care of them. When you have a big group of 17 bikers, 22 people all together, you have to have some ground rules. Because the least thing I want to see is that people built up resentments against each other. It's a lot of different personalities. And I feel that Sterling and me, we have to be like staff and watching and be mediators to get it to be a smooth engine running. The people you're with makes it a good ride. If it's smooth pavement, it'll be twisties. Consistent smooth twisties makes it good. The adventure of taking off of a side road and just taking off and seeing where it leads. Some cases have just led us into cow paths and into nowhere or into towns or in the farm in the pastures. So there is no one good road. It's just all an adventure. On day eight, we ride north across the central Anatolian plain towards Amasya, another stop on the Silk Route. On the way, we pass through Hattusas, the capital city of the Hittites, dating back to 1800 BC. The Hittites ruled in the Middle East for about 600 years. This was once a very powerful city with stone walls now in ruins. High above the north bank of the river, the ancient rock-cut tombs of the Pontic kings watch over the picturesque city below. Amasya is located on the banks of the ancient River Iris. It was once the capital of the Mithridatic kingdom and was also the training ground for many Ottoman princes before they became sultans. Located in a rocky ravine with a river running right through the middle of it, Amasya is a picture-perfect example of Turkish pride, and they have a lot to be proud of. The world's first historian and geographer was born here. After leaving Amasya and traveling through Europe and Africa, Strabo wrote dozens of books on history and geography. Much later in time, in 1919, the father of modern-day Turkey, Mustafa Kemal or Ataturk, hid out in Amasya after escaping occupied Istanbul. It was here where he met with friends and fathered the modern principles of Turkish independence. The timbered houses on the north bank of the river are particularly fine examples of Ottoman civil architecture from the 19th century. These buildings usually have two stories. The rooms on the ground floor were grouped around a spacious hall and included kitchens, servants' quarters, and dining rooms, with the upper floor consisting of bedrooms. As most people on this group must have noticed, the life in the city and life in the village are totally two different lives in Turkey. This life in Istanbul or any other big city like Ankara or Izmir is, you know, you have to hurry somewhere, you have to work hard to make a living, and it's just like any other western city. But whereas in the countryside, when you travel to the remote parts of Turkey, like we did on this trip, you see life going at a different pace. First of all, it revolves around nature, it revolves around agriculture, and because most of it is still based on farming. And therefore, as you ride through the Turkish countryside, you see a lot of men just sitting around. They, it looks like they do nothing, play backgammon, drink tea, but you know, it's a part of their cycle. And, but there's some periods of the year that they really work hard, work in the fields, go to the town, try and sell their crops. Therefore, I think during these trips, people come to an understanding of what other cultures go through, how their life revolves, and what hardships they have to endure. And I think one starts appreciating the agricultural life even more. You know, when we sit on the table, our food is ready. You can just simply order, but to think about the steps and all the phases, different phases that that little plate goes through, that food on your plate, I think one needs to travel. And I call this just discovery through travel. Everybody has a different way of looking at things. Somebody looks at a woman working in a field and say, oh, poor woman. But then somebody might say, well, you know, it's a hard life, and that's what their life is, and she just doesn't know anything but working in the field. So it's all about how you look at life and how you perceive it. Now Kaz here, he say that we are gonna have tea with the mayor. What was that all about, Kaz? We came, we saw, we conquered. This is the town where Julius Caesar said that famous word. And as we stopped here, we're standing in front of the mayor's office. He's inviting us for tea. So this is Turkish hospitality for you. We are right now here in Sile, and we are going to go to Turhal, Tokat, and then Trabzon. Trabzon, we sleep. Trabzon in hotel. Tomorrow to Batumi, Georgia. Bye-bye, Turkey. Very sad. It's been a really good trip so far. I think one of the highlights has been meeting a lot of the local people in Turkey. Just some of the people are so friendly, and they're so easy to meet. Like when we stop alongside the road, people come up and give us food and want to know where we're from, who we are, where we're going. Just a lot of questions. They're very interested in what we're doing. Another highlight was when we went through the Pontic Mountains. The turkey shallots were just beautiful. Some of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. Good curvy roads, and the scenery is just outstanding. You go from flat to mountainous. You've got roads which are okay. I'm not a real fan of gravel roads, but they were rideable when you would hit a section that was being constructed. But the mountains will look like those in the Appalachian, and then they'll look like the mountains in the Rockies as you get close to the Black Sea and up in elevation with snow top. It's really beautiful. Turkey, I believe, offers everything that a biker wants. It's got a lot of history, rich heritage, and obviously we also have what a motorcycle wants, a good country with lots of scenery and twisties, and for the off-road enthusiast, a lot of good off-roads. And I think to top them all, I believe Turkey's best offer is its people. For more information on the Silk Road Adventure, including live journals from this and other GlobeRiders tours, please visit our website.